Since some folks seem to have problems understanding why many of us hold Trump responsible for this disaster, let me make the simple points. (thread)
We knew about the outbreak of the coronavirus in China back in December. (Yes, the Chinese government was not forthcoming about the full extent of the problem -- don't vote for Xi in November)
It was reasonable to expect that someone with the virus would come to the United States. This could be a Chinese national visiting the U.S. or a U.S. citizen or citizen of a 3rd country traveling to China and then coming to the U.S.
At that point, a competent president would have been rushing to make sure that we had an effective test for the disease and that it was widely available.
They also would have made tentative plans for quarantining people who tested positive
Trump did exactly zero of these precautions. For some unknown reason, he did not want to use a test developed by the WHO. We had no alternatives available when the first people carrying the disease came into the country.
There were no plans for quarantining these people, so they spread the disease quickly.
Trump also failed to make any provisions to ensure adequate supplies of basic protective gear, like face masks. He also did not do anything to ensure an adequate supply of other equipment that will now be necessary because of the spread of the disease, like respirators
There is good reason the coronavirus is known as #TrumpPandemic
